MSN 831 has now been officially registered in the U.S.A. as N831WJ. The aircraft had arrived in Rutherfordton on 22-Nov-2013 from Nigeria, and is undergoing overhaul & upgrade prior to delivery to Air Kiribati in 2014.

Thursday, 26 December 2013

Anadyr, Russia based Chukotavia Air Company received formal permission on 24-Dec-2013 to operate the Twin Otter Series 400 on commercial passenger, mail and cargo services.

On 25-Dec-2013 the first non-scheduled cargo & passenger service operated from Anadyr to the village of Markovo carrying equipment inbound, and passengers back to Anadyr later the same day. Beginning in January 2014 the aircraft will enter scheduled service linking Anadyr with Markovo, Beringovsky and Zaliv Kresta. These services are currently flown by Antonov AN-24 and AN-26 aircraft, however the introduction of the Twin Otter will facilitate an increase in frequency of flights.

Chukotavia currently operates one AN-24, three AN-26 and eleven Mi-8 helicopters in addition to the two Viking Series 400 Twin Otters.

MSN 860 and 861 are seen below at their base in Anadyr prior to having been registered in Russia as RA-67281 and RA-67282 respectively.

P2-KSP has now completed its return ferry flight to Kenn Borek Air in Calgary. The aircraft was originally positioned out of Papua New Guinea to Cairns, QLD on 14-Dec-2013, and then departed from Cairns on 18-Dec-2013 bound for Honiara, Majuro, Honolulu, North Bend and then Calgary.

The arrival of P2-KSP in Calgary marks the conclusion of the lease of two airframes (276 & 373) to Hevilift which began in 2012. Hevilift have now replaced both aircraft with ones acquired from Airlines PNG.

Friday, 20 December 2013

Officially imported to Canada 19-Dec-2013. The Canadian registration has yet to be officially documented. It could become C-FBBA once again, or perhaps Borek may take the opportunity to move it from the ("BB" Borek & Binder) sequence to a more standard "KB" registration. The aircraft has been out of Canada since 2010, first in Sri Lanka, then in Papua New Guinea.

P2-KSP departed Majuro 20-Dec-2013, crossing the international date line, and arrived in Honolulu several hours ago. After appropriate crew rest, the aircraft will continue on to the west coast of the U.S.A.

Thursday, 19 December 2013

Saint Croix, USVI based Seaborne Airlines announced yesterday an agreement with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to relocate its corporate headquarters to San Juan. Puerto Rico will take an equity position in the carrier and have two seats on the board of Seaborne's parent company Coastal International Airways. The move is expected to create up to 400 new jobs in Puerto Rico, where Seaborne's 16 SAAB 340B aircraft will be based.

There is however no change anticipated to the existing routes flown by the Twin Otter floatplane operation, which will continue to be centered around the U.S. Virgin Islands from a base in Saint Croix.

Coincidently, I happened to run across these two brilliant shots of C-GKBV this afternoon, which were taken late last month off Saint Thomas. Thanks very much to the original photographer for the permission to use them here.

This aircraft had arrived in Calgary, AB (CYYC) on 19-Jun-2013 as OB-1701 before continuing on to Springbank, AB (CYBW). The cancellation of the Peruvian marks was not accomplished until 28-Nov-2013 and it was officially imported to Canada the same day.

As noted previously in the blog, Kenn Borek's C-GLKB, and C-GOKB have moved to Turkey under lease to Seabird Airlines. The two very nice photographs below are courtesy of Bernd Sturm, and were taken yesterday.

Amongst a bunch of other contributed items today (which I am still working on preparing) a nice in service image of Viking Series 400 MSN 875 P2-KSY, taken last month in Yangon, Myanmar where it is operated from.

P2-KSP has departed Mount Hagen, routing to Horn Island and then continuing on to Cairns. This will be the second aircraft returning to Kenn Borek Air in Canada, and like MSN 276 P2-KSQ it will be ferried by Worldwide Ferry/Planes & Parts Ltd. of Calgary.

Thursday, 12 December 2013

The black & white image below is MSN 290 CF-ZKP which was delivered to Atlas Aviation on 29-Dec-1970. It went on to fly for a variety of Canadian and U.S. operators before going to Papua New Guinea in 1995, and crashed in 1996. The photo location is unknown, as is the date - however does anyone have any background on the incident that is depicted?

Not that the aircraft would necessarily have been painted accordingly, but the name change to Kenting Atlas occurred in Jan 1972 - so the date could possibly be during 1971.

Any assistance is appreciated - via either the contact form on your left screen, or to dhc6300 "at" gmail.com

P2-KSU has departed Cairns, and is currently on the way to Horn Island. Although we still don't have a MSN for this aircraft, it is presumed to be one of the ex-Airlines PNG examples that have been acquired by Hevilift. Based on the flightplans out of PNG to Cairns, and the fact that none of the three suspects below have since appeared on any internal PNG flightplans - it is quite possibly one of:

On 23-Nov-2013, P2-KSO left Cairns for Horn Island (see the blog entry for the same day), which would make either 592 or 673 the likely candidate for that one, as 703 had not been positioned to Cairns yet.

Looking rather spectacular, although it seems to be shedding the Australian registration is MSN 557 VH-AQU of Unknown Destination Services. This aircraft flew for a short period in Indonesia before coming to Australia in Dec-2012, where it has since been offered for sale.

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

C-GIMK is currently being offered for immediate sale by CAAMS LLC in North Carolina. It is expected to be delivered to their facility in Jan 2014 for refurbishing and installation of PT6A-34 engines. The planned U.S. registration is scheduled to be N352HG.

With thanks to the work of Pinemarten in Goose Bay, a great shot of 'IMK taxiing last winter.

Monday, 9 December 2013

P2-KSQ has completed its journey across the Pacific from Cairns, Australia where it had departed on 01-Dec-2013.

The crew to pick up P2-KSP (MSN 373) should be underway to Cairns shortly.

347 - DHC-6-300 N899AS Bank of Utah Trustee, Salt Lake City, UT

Registration cancelled 02-Dec-2013 on export to Mexico. The aircraft was ferried to Mexico on the same day on delivery to Transportes Aereos Terrestres S.A. The new Mexican ident is not yet known.

434 - DHC-6-400 C-FDHT Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

09-Dec-2013

Victoria, BC (CYYJ/YYJ) - Reno, NV (KRNO/RNO)

Reno, NV (KRNO/RNO) - Phoenix-Deer Valley, AZ (KDVT/DVT)

C-FDHT is now continuing on from Reno to the Deer Valley Airport, located in the northern suburbs of Phoenix. If Deer Valley is the final destination I would expect the visit is to the Honeywell facilities located there.

So - we now have two as yet to be identified Twin Otters for Hevilift, P2-KSO (which departed Cairns for PNG on 22-Nov-2013) and P2-KSU pictured below. There should be 1, possibly 2 more that will join Hevilift from Airlines PNG.

As noted in the blog entry for 14-Nov-2013, this aircraft along with MSN 772 N189GC departed Boulder, NV for Hermosillo, Mexico. I had suggested the likely destination would either be Costa Rica or possibly Peru, and as it turns out the former was correct.

Sunday, 1 December 2013

A couple of very nice contributed images this afternoon, both with roots back to Air Illinois who were a significant Twin Otter operator in the U.S. Midwest.

After departing Air Illinois, MSN 218 N604MA was sold in Papua New Guinea. The photograph below was taken prior to delivery in Mexia, TX where the aircraft was refurbished. This aircraft has been with Airlines PNG since 1990, and is still in service - in fact today it has flight plans filed from Port Moresby to Kerema, Kikori and Kamusi.

MSN 218 - DHC-6-200 N604MAMilne Bay AirMexia, TXGordon Cragg Photo

Parked in front of the iconic Minoru Yamasaki designed terminal building at Lambert Field in Saint Louis, MO is MSN 226 N655MA. This aircraft in still around today as well, currently operated by Air Tindi from Yellowknife as C-FATN.

After initially having filed a couple days ago, N899AS once again appears ready for departure from the National Aerotech facility in Hampton. The aircraft is heading for Transportes Aereos Terrestres S.A. in the Mexican state of Durango, where it joins two existing Twin Otters, SN 237 and SN 601.

N899AS has filed for departure from the National Aerotech facility at Hampton later this morning, routing to Baton Rouge and then on to Monterrey. The aircraft has been present at their facility since 29-May-2013 when it arrived from Entebbe, Uganda.

701 - DHC-6-300 OB-1704 Minera Barrick Misquichilca S.A., Lima

Officially imported to Canada 28-Nov-2013

OB-1701 arrived at Calgary, AB on 19-Jun-2013, and then positioned over to the Rocky Mountain Aircraft facility at Springbank later in the day.869 - DHC-6-400 N153QS Wells Fargo Bank NW, Salt Lake City, UT

29-Nov-2013

Nadi-International, Fiji (NFFN/NAN) - Port Vila, Vanuatu (NVVV/VLI)

A flight plan for N153QS popped up yesterday - the first one that has been seen since 05-Oct-2013 when it flew from Tonga to Fiji.

876 - DHC-6-400 N400GZ Ground Zero Solutions, Alexandria, VA

29-Nov-2013

Bangor, ME (KBGR/BGR) - Santa Maria, Azores (LPAZ/SMA)

N400GZ is currently crossing the south of Newfoundland en route to Santa Maria. Earlier this morning it had filed for a stop in St. John's, NL, however by the current track it appears that is now unnecessary.

Has been a very quiet week for the most part, however there are at least a few items worth reporting today.

321 - DHC-6-300 TC-SBU Sea Bird Airlines, Istanbul

Registered 04-Oct-2013, ex C-GLKB

339 - DHC-6-300 TC-SBO Sea Bird Airlines, Istanbul

Registered 01-Aug-2013, ex C-GOKB

MSN 339 - DHC-6-300 TC-SBOSeabird AirlinesIstanbul, Turkey

792 - DHC-6-300 9M-MDK MASwings, Kota Kinabalu

The starboard main gear of 9M-MDK left the paved surface of the runway while back tracking after landing at Bario, Malaysia on 27-Nov-2013. There were no injuries, and no damage to the aircraft.

831 - DHC-6-400 5N-BLJ CAAMS LLC, Rutherfordton, NC

On 25-Nov-2013 officials of the South Pacific island nation of Kiribati signed the final agreement for the acquisition of MSN 831, for expected delivery in Apr-2014.

CAAMS currently has U.S. registration N831WJ reserved, presumably for application to the aircraft above.

876 - DHC-6-400 N400GZ Ground Zero Solutions, Alexandria, VA

28-Nov-2013

Louisburg-Triangle North, NC (KLHZ/LHZ) - Bangor, ME (KBGR/BGR)

N400GZ has filed for departure from North Carolina, which would be the first sector of its delivery flight to Abu Dhabi. The aircraft had been flown down to the Rampart Aviation facility in North Raleigh on 08-Sep-2013 for pre-delivery modifications, and I believe Rampart is also undertaking the ferry flight to the United Arab Emirates.

877 - DHC-6-400 C-GVAQ Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

Canadian registration cancelled 25-Nov-2013 to Vietnam, where it was expected to take up the military serial VNT-777.

886 - DHC-6-400 C-FVGY Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

25-Nov-2013local

Taipei, Taiwan (RCTP/TPE) - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (WBKK/BKI)

Aircraft number three has now been delivered safely to MASwings in Kota Kinabalu. C-FVGY had departed Victoria on 16-Nov-2013, and routed via Juneau, Nome, Anadyr, Magadan, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok and Taipei.

MSN 373 is also scheduled to be returned to Kenn Borek Air shortly, however it currently remains in service in Papua New Guinea.831 - DHC-6-300 5N-BLJ Caverton Helicopters, Lagos (CAAMS LLC, Rutherfordton, NC)

21-Nov-2013

St. John's, NL (CYYT/YYT) - Bangor, ME (KBGR/BGR)

Bangor, ME (KBGR/BGR) - Toms River, NJ (KMJX/MJX)

22-Nov-2013

Toms River, NJ (KMJX/MJX) - Rutherfordton, NC (KFQD/FQD)

The delivery flight of MSN 831 has now been completed with its arrival at the CAAMS facility at Rutherfordton, NC yesterday. The ferry was flown by Canada's Planes & Parts Ltd. in six days from Nigeria to North Carolina.

882 - DHC-6-400 C-FAFI Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

23-Nov-2013

Murrieta-French Valley, CA (F70) - Redding, CA (KRDD/RDD)

Redding, CA (KRDD/RDD) - Victoria, BC (CYYJ/YYJ)

C-FAFI has filed for departure from Murietta today, routing to Redding and Victoria, BC. This aircraft has been with Ikhana since 11-Sep-2013, and is ultimately for Global Aviation Logistics/U.A.E. Air Force as 2271

Another mystery airframe to go along with the Provincial aircraft in the entry below. P2-KSO is currently en route from Cairns to Horn Island, routing to PNG. I assumed it was a misfile for P2-KSQ perhaps, however the aircraft is actually using KSO on the radio as well.

So - it would appear from the above that one of the Provincial aircraft is getting a repaint in Mena. If anyone is aware which aircraft it is, let me know via the contact form or dhc6300 "at" gmail.com .

Yesterday C-GVTU performed a fairly extensive test flight out to the area of Blythe, CA (near the Arizona border) before returning back to Murrieta. This is a Vietnam Navy aircraft, and has been at Ikhana since 11-Jul-2013.

Sunday, 17 November 2013

In the realm of things you can run across while scouring the web for Twin Otters, below are some interesting images (unfortunately undated). While a large number of Twin Otters were delivered to Libya, the fate of many remain uncertain. The photographs below provide some clues to the possible whereabouts of MSN 444, 637, 661, 677, 744, 747 and 757.

As is often the case there is more than one spelling of the location, I have gone with what is on Google Maps.

Thanks to the original photographer.

Looking a little worse for wear, but at least intact is MSN 444 which was imported to Libya in 1975 for Occidental, and later becoming Zueitina Oil.

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